Senate approves naming URI biotechnology building and honors Bill Reynolds at Amica Mutual Pavilion

The Rhode Island Senate on Jan. 18 approved two naming measures: one to name the Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences at the University of Rhode Island for Joseph and Ruby De Cristoforo following a reported $7,000,000 donation, and another to name space at the Amica Mutual Pavilion for longtime Providence Journal sportswriter and author Bill Reynolds.

Chairwoman Sosnowski presented Senate Bill 2033 to name the URI Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences as the Joseph and Ruby De Cristoforo Center For Biotechnology And Life Sciences, noting the naming was requested by the university in recognition of a reported $7 million donation. She moved passage and the act passed with the clerk recording 36 affirmative votes and none negative.

Senator James J. Lombardi III (speaking in a separate item) moved passage of an act to name a space at the Amica Mutual Pavilion for Bill Reynolds, praising Reynolds’ career as a reporter and author. That act also passed by recorded voice/roll with 36 affirmative votes and none negative in the transcript.

What happens next: The naming acts were adopted by the Senate. Implementation (signage, donor recognition, or facility renaming) will be carried out by the University of Rhode Island and Amica Mutual Pavilion authorities in coordination with state administrative processes; specific implementation steps were not provided in the transcript.